Review- Abby Hamilton: #1 Zookeeper (of the San Diego Zoo)
Photo by Alysse Gafkjen
Abby Hamilton releases her debut album, #1 Zookeeper (of The San Diego Zoo), October 13 via Blue Gown Records. Across ten venerable tracks; Abby Hamilton jumpstarts your heart and breathes new life into your soul. She recounts personal experiences with a universal relatability, all over an enthralling blend of folk and indie rock. Abby Hamilton is pure unadulterated musical heroin.
For those like me that have been desperately searching for the next musical fix, Abby Hamilton supplies the necessary music for our veins. If you adore music and aren’t afraid to open up your heart and ears to new possibilities, then get ready to discover new depths of your being as I guide you through #1 Zookeeper (of The San Diego Zoo).
The songwriting style is “narrative with an anthemic chorus.” This album is filled to the brim with wonderfully fantastic songwriting and delicious melodies. “Comparison is the thief of joy,” and I can absolutely draw parallels to Brandon Flowers, Ani DiFranco, Chris Izaak, Avril Lavigne and a tinge of Rainbow Kitten Surprise; which may raise some ire.
Abby Hamilton and crew provide something new, yet familiar, all the while creating and presenting incredible musical soundscapes juxtaposed with endless possibilities. After a brief foray into country music with a couple of dynamite EPs, Abby Hamilton has finally found her niche, true calling and is hitting her stride with #1 Zookeeper. I found the album to be bold, invigorating and delivering a higher-high than her previous efforts.
In full disclosure, I started listening to this album with a musical bias expecting an Americana or Country album and spent entirely too much time in my mind questioning this assertion. Coupled with the Apple Music listing #1 Zookeeper as Indie Rock and I wondered if that was correct or a mistake. That is why I say, resist being forced into a musical bin, shed your musical industry shackles and free yourself from being confined to a single idea. Come as you are, open up your ears, revel and delight in the quality singing, songwriting and extraordinary instrumentation. Abby Hamilton is truly a hidden gem and soon to be concealed no longer.
My favorite Abby Hamilton song is not on this album and could be a review faux pas. “Change Things (Live)” off the Afraid of the Dark (Live Sessions) EP, which I aptly feel foreshadows the sound of #1 Zookeeper and one of the many reasons I couldn't resist taking this assignment in the first place, actually takes the cake. Don’t worry, plenty of enchanting music to behold on the record that I am actually reviewing. It’s all just part of the set up.
While packing for a long flight back to the east coast from a two week stay in San Diego, California, I reached out to my editor who is a voracious music listener and a traveling musical encyclopedia. I asked her if she had any sleeper artist recommendations for me to binge while I was on the plane. The first artist on a list of six she sent back was Abby Hamilton, who just happened to be dropping a new album in thirteen days. Was I being set up?
So, I jumped on YouTube, while listening/watching AH and her band perform “Change Things” and vibing out to the incredible bass playing of Carlson Childers, I see the notification of the assets containing the title #1 Zookeeper (of The San Diego Zoo) hit my screen. I was sold. I am a believer in serendipity and having seen the actual San Diego Zoo sign while stuck in traffic several times and being disappointed that I couldn't sneak away for a quick trip to the zoo, it all struck me as happenstance. If you, too, have a thirst for something new and refreshing, then I am certain that Abby Hamilton will quench that drought.
My favorite lyric and an example of the quality songwriting contained within #1 Zookeeper (of The San Diego Zoo) comes during the song, “Fine.” It’s a love song or rather a song about finding closure after love being taken for granted for way too long. The track chronicles being in a one-sided relationship in which you aren’t the priority and somehow mustering up the courage and strength to walk away. The lyric is in response or quip to an excuse and being fed up with being under-appreciated, “it ain’t bad luck, it’s just poor stewardship of some damn fine loving.” The song has an additional layer of complexity that I am unable to fully untangle. Perhaps as it can be with music, it's up to the listener's interpretation or simply part of the mystique.
Abby Hamilton isn't alone in this endeavor and while she may be the main event, it's the other complementary pieces working in tandem that truly make this band exquisite and intoxicating. Her brother’s (Zac Hamilton) guitar playing is excellent in every regard and he makes that Stratocaster whine ever so hauntingly and beautifully. He will often provide just a taste at the beginning of a song, then lets Carlson, Abby and Zach Martin (Drums) sit in the pocket and take the song for a fantastic ride. And then just like a rug being pulled out from under you, Zac drops the hammer and begins to fly as if he were trying to evade the law. Songs like the opening track “Lucky, Good Thing” and the aforementioned song “Change Things” are perfect examples of this extraordinarily pleasing sucker punch.
It’s not lost on me - and to my own surprise - that it's the first time I have ever complimented a bass player in a music review. He, too, clearly had me head over heels with his playing. His fingers effortlessly and gracefully plucking each delicious note out of the abyss. The entire Abby Hamilton composition combines to create such amazingly tremendous moodscapes with notes appearing, lingering and disappearing into thin air, perfectly balancing and accentuating the pain, loneliness, heartache and melancholy of Hamilton's voice and songwriting.
No real need to delve much further into this album as merely listening to the first three songs on this album will set the hook. The next three songs will make you a believer and before you know it, you, too, will be clamoring for more and more. You will discover, like I have, the bewitching adoration for Abby Hamilton’s music.
What started off with, “Hey, I have a long flight and I need something new to get me through,” led me to the incredible musical discovery of Abby Hamilton - jumping off into a musical rabbit hole; crawling and scraping for every detail, fabric and note I could find and ended up with this review. “Open up your blue eyes. You're due for a 'Good Thing'!” And I assure you that Abby Hamilton is that good thing! As Abby Hamilton begins her ascent to becoming your newest musical addiction and a habit you can’t kick. I am happy to spread the word and help all those searching endlessly for their next musical fix to find a new high.
Find out more about Abby at the links below:
